João Almeida Made the Vuelta a España a bit more exciting again on Thursday. The Portuguese Rider Gained Ten Seconds on Red Jersey Wearer Jonas Vingegaard in The Shorted Time Trial. The Stage Win Went to Filippo Ganna.
The Chance of Fireworks Between the General Classification Riders in the Time Trial Seemed to Have Disappeared Before The First Podium Candium Candidate Started in Valladolid. The Stage had Been Drastically Shortened the Day Before: from 27.2 to 12.2 kilometers.
Neverberness, Almeida Tried to make the best of it. The Number Two in the General Classification Clocked the Third Time with 13.08.46, Behind Jay Vine and Ganna. Vine was less than a second slower than the Italian Stage Winner.
Red Jersey Wearer Vingegaard Finished in Ninth Place, with a time or 13.18.91. He thus Conceded Ten Seconds to Almeida. The Difference Between the Numbers One and Two is Forty Seconds at the Start of Friday’s Stage.
Thus, The Battle for the Overall Victory is Anything But Decided Just Before The Final Weekend. However, The Differences in A Longer Time Trial – As Originally Conceived – Might Have Been Even Greater. Sunday is the Final Stage of the Vuelta to Madrid.
No protests interrupted the race
The time trial, which Been had significantly shortned for fear of disruptions, Went Smoothly. Crash Barriers Were Placed Everywhere Around the Course and Hundreds or Extra Officers Were deployed to Keep the Course Clear.
The Pro-Palestinian Protesters Were Visible Along The Road. They waved flags and remained behind the fences as far as is known.
Earlier in The Vuelta, demonstrators caused dangerous situations. They also Occupied the Finish Street Twice. As a result, there was no stage winner in The Elevth Stage. In The Sixteenth Stage there was one, but the finish was Suddenly 8 kilometers from the original finish line.